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Bengal beat Tamil Nadu by 77 runs to reach Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final

Mohammed Shami and Ashok helped Bengal defend a 168-run target with ease over Tamil Nadu.

Mohammed Shami picked up four wickets against Tamil Nadu © IANS (File Photo)
Mohammed Shami picked up four wickets against Tamil Nadu © IANS (File Photo)

 

Kolkata: Mar 11, 2014

 

Pacers Mohammed Shami and Ashok Dinda shared seven wickets between them to trigger a collapse that saw Bengal beat Tamil Nadu by 77 runs and storm into the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day cricket tournament at the floodlit Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.

 

Defending a paltry 168, Shami (four for 25) and Dinda (three for 13) ripped apart Tamil Nadu top-order with some charged up bowling to reduce the visitors to 25 for five in the 10th over and eventually bundle out Tamil Nadu for 90 in 33.5 overs.

 

Dinda gave the Bengal their first breakthrough by seeing off S Anirudha, who edged to second slip. Shami then joined the party with wickets of Baba Aparajith (12) and Subramaniam Badrinath (0) in successive overs. He took a spectacular running catch off his own bowling to dismiss Badrinath.

 

There was no respite for the star studded Tamil Nadu top order batsmen with the pace duo bowling in tandem for 13 overs. They also accounted for the prized wickets of Dinesh Karthik (5), Ravichandran Ashwin (0) and Vijay Shankar (6).

 

The duo bowled with sheer pace and swing. Shami’s first spell read 6-0-13-3, while Dinda was more dreadful with figures of 7-3-12-2.

 

Presence of 3,000-odd boisterous crowd just added to the intensity as Bengal had it easy in the end.

 

Murali Vijay was the lone Tamil Nadu batsmen who batted with patience before Veer Pratap Singh ended his stay at the wicket for 24 off 85 balls after Sayan Sekhar Mondal took a fine catch at deep fine-leg.

 

With wickets falling in at the other end, Vijay looked frustrated and went for a big heave to clear the ropes but only to lose his wicket.

 

Earlier, Tamil Nadu medium pacer Yo Mahesh grabbed four for 23 after rattling the top order in a first spell of 4-0-12-2 to trigger in a top order collapse.

 

Bengal never had any partnership going with Saurashish Lahiri top scoring with 32 after skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla (30), Manoj Tiwary (25) and Shreevats Goswami (22) failed to convert their starts.

 

For Tamil Nadu, Ashwin (two for 38) and Rahil Shah (two for 18) took two wickets apiece as Bengal were reduced to 139 for nine, but some lusty hitting by No 11 batsman Dinda, who struck a 19-ball 21 not out, pushed their total to 150-plus.

 

Brief scores:

 

Bengal 167 in 42.1 overs (Laxmi Ratan Shukla 30, Saurashish Lahiri 32; Yo Mahesh 4 for 23) beat Tamil Nadu 90 in 33.5 overs (Murali Vijay 24; Mohammed Shami 4 for 25, Ashok Dinda 3 for 13) by 77 runs.

 

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